Old Friends, New Memories
by LittleMoments24
Summary: Kim Crawford has always loved karate. But, she loved doing it with her best friend. So, when Jack Anderson quit karate and left her life forever, she was devastated. But, life went on. A couple years later, she's going to China for the Junior World Martial Arts Championships. You can guess who she finds there... Eventual Jack/Kim
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

I never thought I'd see the day when Jack lost a fight. I mean the kid's like a karate machine; he usually picked up stuff nearly twice as fast as me. I would never say it to his face, but he's got talent. Today started out normal enough…

I walked through the door of our dojo and immediately heard a loud crash. I sighed and hurried to the sparring room to see what Brantley broke this time. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the kid to death, but sometimes I wonder how many times the poor sap was dropped on his head. Just last week, Sensei just about had a heart attack when Brantley completely 'redecorated' his office. Let's just say, Sensei's still finding Japanese wood beetles and cotton candy everywhere.

I finally reached the sparring room, and I froze in shock in the doorway as I took in the scene before me. I saw Jack's grandfather, who also happened to be known as Sensei, in a defensive stance next to a gaping hole in the wall. Brantley was staring, wide-eyed, at the nun-chucks in his hand. I bet my bunnies that his so called 'deadly weapons' made that hole.

I could see that at any moment, Sensei was going to turn around and kick Brantley out of the dojo. So, being the good person that I am, I chose that moment to walk in.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I said brightly, flipping my long, wavy blonde hair over my shoulder.

Sensei turned to acknowledge me, momentarily distracted, so I glanced at Brantley, silently urging him to get his butt out of here.

As Brantley somewhat quietly scuttled to the locker room, Sensei bowed and said, "Ah, Kimberly, welcome to today's practice of martial arts."

Well, that's Sensei for you. He could probably kill a man with his thumb, but he was oblivious as a little kid.

"So, what are we going to do today?" I asked, after returning the bow.

"Well, I had planned for a couple of sparring sessions, but one of the students from my private classes wishes to join us. So, out of courtesy, we are going to welcome him into our class for today," he answered, just as Jack walked in.

"Oh we get a new kid? Looks like Kim gets to get beat up by a rookie today," he said, his eyes sparkling with humor.

I glared at him and punched him in the stomach, hard.

"Geez, Kim I was just kidding," he gasped as he doubled over.

"Oh man up, Jack."

"Children, children," Sensei interrupted before Jack had a chance to flip me, "I see that misunderstanding has clouded your minds, for this 'rookie' as you call him is a first-degree black belt."

"Finally, some competition!" I exclaimed with a pointed look at Jack.

"Ouch, that hurts right here," he said, pointing at his chest.

"Where? Your non-existent abs?" I said innocently, pretending to examine my nails.

"Oh that's it! When I get my hands on you-" Jack started towards me, but Sensei chose that moment to clap his hands and say, "Let's start warming up, my pupils."

I got a this-isn't-over glare from Jack as he moved into position. I happily stuck my tongue out at him before I did a couple of back walkovers to stretch out a kink in my spine.

Just as I straightened up, a kid with longish blond hair walked through the door with an arrogant smirk on his face. For some strange reason, this kid looked familiar, although I couldn't for the life of me place a name to his face.

He noticed me looking at him and winked before turning to Sensei. I felt my cheeks heat up and hoped no one had noticed.

Just then Jack looked up with an astonished look on his face, "Kai?"

" 'Sup Jack," Kai said with his smirk still plastered on his face, "Looks like I get to beat your butt today."

Suddenly, I remembered where I'd seen him and his arrogant smirk before. As everyone knows, I've known Jack pretty much since birth; so naturally, I've been to plenty of family dinners with him. A couple years ago, I was invited to one of his family's huge blow-out Thanksgiving dinners_._

_I knocked on his door and impatiently tapped my foot while waiting. That boy could really annoy a girl sometimes._

_When he finally opened the door, he gave me a grin and said in a horrible British accent, "Right this way, m'lady. Allow me to escort you through our five-star establishment."_

_"Can it, Jack," I said laughing. I nestled my hand in the crook of his arm anyway as he 'led' me toward the dining room._

_Since this was the first Thanksgiving I've spent at the Anderson household, I wasn't prepared at all when I walked into the formal dining room. In all the years I've known Jack and his family, I have not once seen them sit down to eat in their formal dining room, but apparently Thanksgiving was another matter._

_The whole room (which was like HUGE) was decked out in fancy Thanksgiving decorations. There were straw scarecrows, fresh pumpkins, and a bunch of other stuff that I couldn't begin to describe all laid out in strategic locations._

_I immediately recognized Mrs. Anderson's work. It seemed like she had a natural talent for world of art and design. It just wasn't fair, I was hopeless at anything vaguely related to art._

_But, the decorations weren't what caught my attention. In the middle of the room, there was a huge, beautiful mahogany table with every kind of Thanksgiving food imaginable on it._

_"Close your mouth, you'll catch flies," Jack said, grinning, clearly enjoying my shocked reaction._

_I couldn't help smiling at that, well I was smiling more at the delicious looking food, but no need to tell him that._

_I was just about to 'sample' some of the pecan pie when I heard a voice calling my name from behind me._

_"Now, I just know that Kim would've known better then to dig her sticky little fingers into my fresh, homemade pie," Mr. Anderson scolded, with a stern finger pointed at me and a mock look of disapproval on his face._

_"What? Me? I wouldn't dream of it," I said, faking surprise. "I was just looking."_

_"Well look in the other direction, missy," Jack's dad said laughing. He held out his arms and exclaimed, "And while you're busy NOT looking at my food, come give me a hug!"_

_I grinned and hugged him, breathing in the smell of fresh baked bread that clung to his apron._

_"Dad! Kim gets a hug, but your own son doesn't? That doesn't sound right," Jack said, pouting._

_"Get in here, son," Mr. Anderson said smiling._

_I pulled away after a couple of seconds, and Mr. Anderson went back into the kitchen to get the turkey out of the oven._

_I looked around the sea of people and suddenly felt intimidated. I couldn't see Jack anywhere and his comfortably familiar house had taken on an unfamiliar air. I finally forced my way to the table and caught a glimpse of Jack talking to a guy with blonde hair by the giant scarecrow. I made my way over to them._

_Just as I walked up, I heard the other guy snort rudely and say, "You're still that little weakling that I used to beat up, Jacky."_

_"Yeah, well why don't you give yourself a chance and walk away before this gets messy?" Jack shot back with a determined look on his face._

_The guy just gave Jack a nasty grin before flicking a piece of bread into his hair._

_Naturally, I chose this moment to walk up and confront him. "Seriously dude, buzz off."_

_"Awwh, did little Jacky finally get a girlfriend?" Blondie snarled._

_Jack immediately blushed but I just smiled sweetly at him. Right before bringing my hand out from behind my back and smashing a cupcake to his face._

_"Lay off my friend," I snapped before grabbing Jack's arm and pulling him away._

_"Who was that?" I whispered as soon as we were out of earshot._

_"Oh him? Don't worry about it, it was just my cousin, Kai. He's all talk."_

_"Well, I don't think he'll be talking anytime soon," I said with a wink._

_Jack laughed as he directed me back to the table, where he pulled out my chair and said in his British accent, "After you, m'lady."_

_"Why I'd be honoured, good sir," I grinned as I sat down._

I haven't thought about Kai in a couple of years, but seeing him brought back the memory of that Thanksgiving. I smiled as I remembered the look on his face when he was covered in icing. But, my smile immediately faded when I saw the cruel gleam for blood in Kai's eyes.

I involuntarily flinched when he glanced at me and hurried to prep Jack for his fight. I knew he'd never warm up right unless I was breathing down his neck.

I walked up to Jack, who was madly trying to get last minute practice in.

"For goodness' sake Jack, calm down!" I yelled as I narrowly dodged a flying spin kick.

"Sorry Kim but I have to win this, or I'll never live it down."

"Come on Jack, you know you got this. You're not half-bad and way better than your sorry excuse for a cousin," I said while handing him a water bottle.

He looked at me in surprise, because that was the closest I've ever come to admitting that he was some-what good at karate.

"Um thanks Kim," he said, still astonished, "Who knew that you could be nice once in a while?"

I grinned and punched him lightly on the shoulder before I said, "Don't get used to it, buddy."

"I knew it was too good to be true," he said, winking, before he got on the practice mat and faced Kai.

While they outlined the rules of their match, I decided to spar with one of the other students.

"Hey Riley, do you want to do a quick one?" I asked, gesturing toward an empty practice mat.

His eyes lit up with childish anticipation as he faced me on the mat. We both bowed and struck a ready pose. "You know I'm going to beat you, Crawford," he said, using my last name.

"We all know that's not true Riley," Grace, a tall brunette, said smirking.

I gave him a quick smile before I launched myself at him. It felt like it took a couple of minutes, but a fight is usually over in seconds. We ended up in our usual position, him face down on the mat with my foot on his back, holding him down.

"Fine! I give up! Just get off of me, you evil little girl!" he muttered. His voice was muffled by the mat, and I laughed before I removed my foot. He accepted the hand I held out and pulled himself to his feet.

"You know, one day, I'm going to beat you," he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Keep dreaming Romeo," I smirked as I reached up and ruffled his jet-black hair.

"Hey! Not the hair," he exclaimed as he frantically smoothed it down. "And you know just because I like this one girl doesn't mean you have to call me Romeo."

"First of all, a more accurate word is obsessed, and second, you know you love it," I said as I bumped his shoulder with mine.

He made a face at me as we walked over to the sparring mat that Kai and Jack were sparring on.

As we walked up, the match started. At first, it seemed that Jack had the upper hand because he was tirelessly throwing punch after punch while Kai was doing nothing but avoiding them. But, after a couple more seconds of this I realized that Kai was getting used to Jack's fighting style. My hypothesis was proven correct when Kai suddenly caught Jack's kick and pushed his foot back, sending him stumbling backwards off the mat. He barreled right into me, knocking me into the lockers. I hit them with a loud CLANG and sat down hard, completely winded.

Riley pulled me up and supported me while I caught my breath. By the time my vision cleared, I saw Jack hurl himself at Kai. Kai was calmy standing there, waiting for Jack to come at him. I involuntarily gasped as Kai caught Jack's kick and used his momentum to flip him onto the mat. I automatically reached up to my neck and rubbed my good-luck necklace. Kai still had Jack's leg in his grasp, so he twisted it and pushed down.

I could see the pain in Jack's eyes as Kai pushed harder. By now I was furious, no true martial arts master fought with pain as his weapon. I was just about to go in there and drop-kick Kai into next week when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over and saw Sensei watching the match with a calm, slightly curious expression.

"We must let Jack overcome this alone."

Even though I hated to admit it, he was right. If I interrupted this match, Jack would never forgive me. Reluctantly, I nodded and nervously bit my bottom lip as I turned back to the mat. Jack was still struggling under Kai's iron grip. He raised his head and his eyes met mine for a quick moment.

Suddenly, Jack pushed himself up with his arms and swung his other leg around, knocking Kai's legs out from under him. He lost his balance and fell to the mat with a loud thump.

Happiness overcame me as it occured to me that Jack had won. I was just about to run onto the mat and congratulate him, when Kai grabbed Jack's foot and pulled it out from under him. Kai quickly got up and landed on top of Jack, holding him down for a full five seconds, the required time for someone to instantly win.

I stood there open-mouthed with shock, along with the rest of the dojo. Sensei just looked disappointed as he struck the gong that signaled the end of the match.

Jack quickly struggled out from Kai's death hold and clambered up, a look of utter-disbelief on his face.

"Congratulations Kai, that round goes to you," Sensei announced as he shook Kai's hand. "Now both of you close the match."

Kai had a triumphant look on his face as he bowed and looked around the dojo with a newly gained air of supremacy. Jack managed a quick bow and hobbled off toward the locker rooms. I finally recovered from the initial shock and intercepted him before he could make it to the door.

"Jack! You were gr-" I started to say before I looked up at his face.

His eyes were full of humiliation, pain, and something I've never seen on his face in the fourteen years that I have known him. Defeat. Utter defeat.

"He beat me Kim, nobody's ever beaten me in a formal match before," he said with a disheartened glance back in Kai's direction.

"Really Jack? 'Cause I clearly remember beating you yesterday," I said with a small smile on my face.

"Yeah, right." Even though he acted like the Jack that I knew and loved, I could tell that he wasn't going to let this one go for a while.

So, I decided to cheer him up by treating him to his favorite food. "Okay, why don't you go change and after that we can go to Harry's Burgers? I'll pay!" I offered, with a reassuring smile on my face.

"Nah, I actually don't feel like food right now. I think I'm going to go home," he said before turning around and entering the locker room.

I tried not to feel too hurt, because I knew that he probably needed some time alone. I sighed and headed out, grabbing my bag on the way to the door.

* * *

**Hey guys! I had a lot of fun writing this story, and I hope you'll like it too! Anyone catch my movie reference? If you did, I salute you and your Disney knowledge! Until next time, review!**

**-Courtney(:**


	2. Chapter 2

For the next couple of weeks, Jack almost never showed up to the dojo for practice after school. I questioned him about it, and his answer every time was that he was busy. I didn't necessarily believe him but I didn't know what else to do, so I let him have his space.

Late on Friday night, I decided to head to the dojo and do some practicing. My mind was in a jumble and karate usually relaxed me. I was brushing up on my technique when I heard the door jingle as it opened.

My first thought was that somebody was robbing the place, so I quickly ran to the door of the training room and switched the lights off. I quietly crouched by the door until the robber made his way to the light switch.

"Hiya!" I yelled as I flew out from my hiding spot and at the dark, shadowy figure at the entrance. The figure quickly grabbed both of my arms, a split second before they made contact with the person's body.

"Kim! Stop, it's just me!" a familiar voice hissed as they tried to restrain me. I was just about to bite the hands of my attacker when the light switched on.

Momentarily blinded, I stumbled back and shielded my eyes with my now free hands. When I could see again, I looked at the face of my best friend.

"Jack!" I said, breaking out into a happy smile.

"Now you like me, huh? A couple of seconds ago, you were trying to claw my face off," Jack said, a touch of his old humor back.

"Nah, I wouldn't want my best friend to be deformed, now would I?" I said, mirth evident in my expression.

"Well that's good to know," he muttered, giving me a grin.

I was so happy that he was back at the dojo that I totally forgot to ask him what he was doing here. I did so and watched as his face contorted from a carefree boy to the look of someone much older.

"Well?" I prompted after a couple seconds of silence.

"I actually came looking for you, and I suspected you would be here, training your butt off," he said without humor.

"And?"

"I need to tell you something. Actually two somethings. Two very big somethings," Jack said, suddenly looking nervous. Now I thought I was hallucinating or something, Jack Anderson doesn't get nervous without a good reason.

I raised an eyebrow as I contemplated the meaning of that.

"Okay," he took a deep breath before continuing, "The first thing is, that I'm quitting karate."

A million different emotions clouded my head, but one stood out. Shock. I knew that Jack was upset about losing the match to Kai but I had no idea that he would take it this far.

I was just about to open my mouth to argue, but he was expecting that and clamped one of his hands to my mouth before I could cuss him out.

"Now before you yell at me, I wanted you to know that I've thought it through and this is what I want."

I know I was staring daggers at him because he looked pained when he murmured, "And the second something is that, I'm moving."

All the fight left me then. My hands were trying to remove his hand from my mouth, but as soon as he said that my arms went limp and dangled uselessly at my sides. The anger in my eyes turned to pain and shock.

He slowly removed his hand and ran it through his hair, something that I've come to know as his nervous tick.

"Why?" I choked out, before my voice shut down completely.

"Well, my parents have been transferred to Seaford and we're moving next week. I've known for a couple months, but I just couldn't find the right time to tell you," he said, not meeting my eyes.

And that's when I exploded. White hot anger coursed through me, hiding my pain. "And you think this is the right time? You've barely said two words to me for TWO WEEKS Jack! Oh and not to mention the fact that you told me right after you told me that you're quitting karate, the thing that made us best friends! We've done karate our whole life Jack! And you're giving that all up just because you lost ONE MATCH?" I screamed, trying to get all the anger, hurt, pain, and shock out of me in one breath.

My hands were clenched into fists, which were shaking with barely suppressed rage. It took every ounce of my self-control not to punch him right now. I couldn't decide what I was more hurt by, the fact that he was moving, or the fact that he didn't think I was important enough for him to tell me. Plus there was the situation of him quitting karate.

Suddenly I was overwhelmed, and I had to get out. Blinking through the angry tears in my eyes, I grabbed my bag and ran out, into a soaking rain. I hadn't even realized it was raining otherwise I would've grabbed a jacket on the way out. But there was no way that I was going back now, so I just gritted my teeth and slogged forward until I reached my house.

I clumsily opened the door and quietly closed it behind me, not wanting to have my family wake up and question me. I hurried to my room and collapsed on my bed, suddenly feeling bone-tired.

Like a zombie, I changed into dry pajamas and crawled back into bed. Almost robotically, I pulled the comforter up and tried not to think about Jack. I've heard that daylight makes everything look better, so I closed my eyes and waited for my daylight to come.

* * *

**Ssup brochachos! Remember where that's from?(; It feels traitorous to say this, but Billy Unger is Hottt! Don't worry, Leo Howard is definately hotter. Anyway hope you guys like this chapter! I certainly had fun writing it! For all you people who got my Ratatouille reverence, I salute you and your knowledge of Disney Movies! Review, my pretties!**

**-Courtney(:**


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning feeling like crap. I untangled myself from the bed sheets and rolled over, promptly landing face-first on the carpeted floor.

"What a great way to start the day," I grumbled to myself as I picked myself off the floor. I took a deep breath and stumbled my way to the bathroom. I took a look at my reflection in the mirror.

My hair was thrown up in a hazardous messy bun, emphasis on the _messy_. Strands of wavy hair had escaped from my rubber band and fell across my face, so I blew them out of my eyes. My sleepy eyes blinked back at me, looking sad and lacking their usual luster.

I hurriedly scrubbed my face, trying to erase the depressed look before my parents started questioning me. I knew I could never fool them, but that doesn't mean that I didn't try.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I remembered the events of the night before, but I swallowed my sadness and angrily blinked them back. Kim Crawford doesn't cry.

I pushed open the door, and with my luck, ran into someone. I was knocked backwards onto the floor of the hallway.

"Come on, Kimmy! You could've killed me!" my older brother, Luke, huffed as he got back to his feet.

"Maybe if you weren't so fat, you wouldn't take up the whole hallway," I shot back angrily.

"Well someone didn't get their usual fifteen hours of sleep," he muttered as I pushed past him, on my way to the kitchen.

My parents were already in the kitchen. My dad was sitting at the table, watching the basketball game while my mom was busy cooking up some concoction on the stove. I glanced at the time, 10 P.M., before I plopped down at the table and buried my head in my arms.

"Hey sweetie, I guess you heard the news right?" my dad said, glancing sympathetically in my direction.

I popped my head up and stared at him in surprise.

He turned the TV off and turned to face me. "Yeah kiddo, we've known for a while. We would've told you but Jack was determined to tell you himself. I just don't know why he took so long."

My mom turned the stove off and came down to sit next to me, taking my hand in both of hers. "Honey, you know he cares about you right? Don't be too mad at him for waiting this long, he probably had a good reason."

"He's quitting karate," I quietly whispered, looking down at the table.

My dad's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he said, "What? Is this because of the Kai thing?"

I nodded. I put my head down back on the table; I didn't trust it to stay up by itself.

I heard the loud, cantankerous noise that signaled my brother's arrival. "She found out about the whole Jack thing, didn't she?" he whispered, rather loudly.

_Did everybody but me know? _I thought to myself as I raised my head and glared at him.

He put his hands up in the universal, don't-blame-me gesture. "Hey, she called me fat."

"Kimberly!"

"He was asking for it Mom!" I argued, while shooting daggers at Luke's smirking face.

"Apologize Kim, before your mother calls the S.W.A.T team on you," my dad said with a serious expression, but I could see him holding back laughter.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, "I'm sorry for insulting your so called godly six-pack."

"Well it better be godly, considering how hard Coach Thompson works us," he said, grinning, while he poured himself a glass of juice. I didn't think his head could get any bigger, until he was made captain of the varsity football team. I keep waiting for it to explode and show everybody the lack of content inside.

Feeling better already, I got up from the table to go back to my room.

"Are you going to see Jack?" my mom said as I reached the stairs.

"Umm, no. Why in the world would I want to talk to him right now?" I said, my anger returning.

"Give him a chance Kimmy, he's a boy and we do stupid things sometimes," my dad said, getting a banana from the kitchen counter.

"True 'dat," my brother said with his mouth full of blueberry muffin.

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered as I climbed the stairs. The only thing I wanted to do with Jack was to cut his head off and mail it to Siberia.

* * *

I managed to completely avoid Jack for a week. Whenever I saw him waiting next to my locker, I would make a detour and wait in the bathroom before he finally gave up and left. I hurried home after school so he wouldn't have time to catch up to me. I even went as far to lock the door to my room, when he came over one time to get a chance to talk to me.

I was fully prepared not to talk to him, or even look at him, until he moved. But as the day loomed closer and closer, I found it harder to walk away without confronting him.

Finally, I hit rock bottom the morning of the moving day. I barely got any sleep the night before, and I was up at 5 in the morning, freaking out. I decided that I couldn't live with myself if I let him go before I had the chance to say good-bye. Now, don't get me wrong, I was still plenty angry with him, but I owed it to him to at least see him before he left forever.

Since it was the middle of February, I threw a sweatshirt on over my pajamas and slipped my feet into a pair of my warmest boots. I hurriedly scrawled a note telling my parents where I'm going in case they woke up before I got home. I crept downstairs and placed the note in plain sight on the kitchen counter.

I opened the door and shut it softly behind me. I crossed my arms tighly to keep the warmth from the house in and started trudging toward Jack's house.

* * *

**Hola personas! See my spanish going on there? I feel pretty smart(: Anyway, next chapters gonna be the one when he moves away :'( so sad! REVIEW!**

**-Courtney(:**


	4. Chapter 4

After about ten minutes of walking, I was thoroughly frozen. My teeth were chattering and my nose looked like it was turning blue. I was pretty sure my fingers were falling off too, but I decided not to look at them.

The cold wind bit my cheeks as Jack's house finally came into view. I breathed a sigh of relief as I increased my pace. The wind immediately died down as I stepped on to the porch and rang the doorbell. I wasn't expecting anybody up, but to my surprise it opened a couple of seconds after.

"Kim! I was hoping you'd drop by before we left," Mrs. Anderson exclaimed, smiling.

"Yeah, sorry it took so long," I said meekly.

"Oh darling, don't worry about it!" she said good-naturedly as she ushered me into the warmth of the house.

As soon I stepped inside, I gasped in shock. All their furniture was gone. Not one piece of it left. I could see boxes stacked up all over the place, some opened and others sealed shut. I realized then how long my pride had kept me waiting before I finally swallowed it and came to say goodbye to the one person that knew me better than anyone else. Maybe even knew me better than I did.

I cleared my throat against the lump that formed and looked at Jack's mom. She seemed to understand and pointed upstairs, giving me a small, reassuring smile.

I headed up to Jack's room.

Before I could convince myself not to go in, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Jack was sitting down on his barren bed, looking at a picture. The rest of his room was all packed, ready to be shipped to Seaford.

He looked up when the door closed and his eyes widened in surprise. He looked like he did every day, with his slightly messy brown hair that never wanted to lie down straight. The only difference was the faint darkness under his eyes that signaled his lack of sleep.

"Kim? I didn't think you were going to come," he said, standing up and putting the picture down on his bed.

"I might be mad at you, but not enough to send you away without giving you a proper goodbye," I said sheepishly, looking at the floor.

"You can't be that mad at me, I don't think I've ever seen you up this early," he joked half-heartedly.

I managed a laugh and looked at the photograph that he'd dropped on his bed. I walked over and picked it up.

"It's of the first time I got you to ride that big roller coaster," I heard him say.

I remembered the first time I had gotten on that monstrosity. It was the second fastest and tallest roller coaster in the United States, so like any sane person; I naturally would NOT ride it. Jack, being the crazy hooligan he is, dragged me along and I ended up loving it.

That's when the tears came, when I realized the full enormity of my situation. I would probably never see him again. Tears started to silently stream down my cheeks before I could stop them. I hurriedly wiped them away before Jack could see, but I could tell that he already had.

He looked at me and held his arms out. I hesitated; I'm not the type of person to go looking for pity. But I stepped forward anyway and let him hug me. I pushed my face into his shoulder and inhaled his achingly familiar scent. He rubbed soothing circles in my back as I silently cried.

No matter what I did, the tears kept coming. I didn't make a sound though, I don't think I could've even if I wanted to. He held me until I cried myself dry.

"Are you okay?" Jack murmured the question into my hair.

I nodded my head before taking a shaky breath and pulling away from his comforting arms. I hated that he had to see me looking so weak like this. But, he was leaving forever, so what the hey.

I just stared at the floor until I felt Jack's hand under my chin, lifting my face up so I had to meet his gaze.

"Now where's that smile?" he asked.

I tried giving him a watery smile, but it came out as more of a grimace.

"You can do better than that," he said mischievously.

Before I could reply, he started _tickling _me. He knew that I hated to be tickled, but he did it anyway. I started laughing uncontrollably as his fingers brushed over my stomach.

"Okay fine! Stop it, I'm smiling now see?" I gave him a big smile and grabbed both of hands, to stop him from tickling me to death.

He was laughing hard, so I put my hand over his mouth to make him stop. I still heard a muffled laughter so I couldn't help but join in. I laughed so hard that my sides hurt, and Jack didn't look any better off.

After we got that out of our systems, he sat back down on his bed and patted the spot next to him. I plopped down on the mattress, making it squeak.

"Is Kimmy getting fat?" he said with a mock look of surprise on his face.

I grinned wickedly before I put my cold fingers on his neck, since they still hadn't warmed up from my trip over here. He yelped and quickly grabbed my fingers, pulling them off his neck.

"What the heck are you doing to your fingers Kim? They feel like the inside of my fridge!" he said, rubbing my fingers to get some warmth in them.

He finally gave me my hand back, and I had to admit that they were considerably warmer than they used to be. We sat there in a comfortable silence as we waited for the moving truck to get here. I rested my head on his shoulder as he fiddled with the picture of us on the roller coaster.

In a couple of minutes, I heard the moving truck pull up outside and breathed a heavy sigh. I felt him get up and saw him look out the window.

"We better get out there," he said with a thick voice.

I nodded and headed downstairs. His parents were already directing the movers to the big pile of boxes in the living room that needed to be loaded on the truck. I waited out of their way with Jack for them to finish. They finished way too fast.

All too soon, the movers had driven off and left just me, the Andersons, and an empty house. I hugged Mr. and Mrs. Anderson for a long time before they got in the car.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye," he said, sounding suspiciously like a movie I had seen last night.

I nodded wordlessly, I didn't trust my voice to work. I rubbed my good-luck necklace as I looked up at him. He took the pendant from my fingertips and looked at it. "Isn't this the necklace I got you for your birthday last year?"

"Oh yeah," I said, not even realizing until he mentioned it. The necklace was beautiful, I had no idea how much it cost and I probably didn't want to know. It had my birthstone, the peridot, on it. The stone was carved into a heart with tiny silver clasps holding it to the chain. It caught the weak light from the winter sun and shimmered.

"I didn't think you still had this thing."

"What? This 'thing' is beautiful! Of course I would keep it," I exclaimed, shocked.

"I knew I had good taste," he said, giving me a small smile. He dropped the necklace and stepped back, away from me.

"I should probably get going, 'bye Kim," Jack said in a low voice, not meeting my eyes.

Impulsively, I reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. I stood on my tip-toes, using my hand to keep my balance, and kissed him swiftly on the cheek.

I thought I saw his cheeks redden slightly, but it was hard to tell because they were already colored from the cold. I stepped back and gave him a crooked smile, "See ya Jack."

He got into the car and waved at me from inside. I kept my smile plastered on my face as I waved back. I stayed in their driveway until they were out of sight. Immediately, the smile slipped off my face as I began the walk long home.

* * *

**Ta-da! This was probably the fastest chapter I've ever written! I just sat in front of my laptop and finished the whole thing in like half an hour.. Crazy right? Anyway, Review! :0 (its a pig! I know it looks better with an at sign, but the stupid computer isnt letting me do that)**

**P.S.**

**A lot of you guys favorited or subscribed to this story, and I really appreciate it! Ya'll are the best! If it's not too much of a bother, can I also ask you to drop a quick review? Critism is appreciated, and it helps me get better! Thanks!(:**

**-Courtney(:**


	5. Chapter 5

Today could very well be classified as one of the best days _ever._

First of all, today was my 16th birthday, the most important day in a young girl's life! We were going to have my Sweet 16 party at the end of the week, and I shook with excitement every time I thought about it.

Then, I found out that I got a 5 on my AP Biology Exam (which is like a perfect score)!

Needless to say, I was practically glowing with happiness when I walked through the doors of the dojo. Immediately I was tackled with a flying hug as Grace screamed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Ever since Jack moved, I had grown extremely close to Grace; she could be classified as my best friend now. I don't think I could ever forget Jack though, no matter how hard I tried. I still wore my good-luck necklace every day, even if my heart ached every time I looked at it. I realized that I couldn't be without it either. So we were stuck together, the necklace and I.

"You know you've told me that like twenty times today, right?" I laughed as I untangled myself from her.

"I'm just making sure you know how excited I am! Plus I expect the same treatment in a couple months," she said, winking.

I laughed and started dragging her to the locker room so we could change.

"Oh children, before you go get ready for workout, can I have a moment?" Sensei said, nimbly jumping up from his meditation pose. The dude's like 70 and he could probably still run a marathon. I promised myself that I would always eat my vitamins.

"Kimberly, I have a letter for you, it's from the karate competition that I sent your application to," Sensei said, handing me a letter.

"Oh my god, did I make it?" I squealed as I tore open the letter.

"I have no idea, my child. For the sake of your privacy, I did not read the letter," Sensei said as he waved Kai over. Sensei handed Kai a letter similar to mine. Kai had joined our dojo soon after Jack left. It was horrible, having to look at his hateful face every day, but I made that sacrifice because of my love for karate and this dojo. Hear that, karate? I better be rewarded for that.

"I didn't know that you applied for this competition," Grace questioned, eyeing Kai apprehensively.

"You don't think I'm as good as the red-head, sweetheart? Well news flash, I'm way better!" Kai said smugly.

I rolled my eyes at this exchange and scanned my letter. One sentence stood out to me, 'You, Kimberly Crawford, have been invited to compete at the Junior World Karate Championship in China! Congratulations!'

I waved the letter in the air and screamed; my eyes wide with excitement. Grace snatched the letter from my hand and read it. Her eyes grew wide as she started screaming.

"Where's the fire?" Brantley hollered as he ran in with a bright red fire extinguisher.

Immediately we stopped hollering and jumping around. "What?" I asked, confused. But then again this Brantley I was talking to, so I should be confused.

"Girls plus screaming equals fire," he said simply, as if expecting us to take him seriously.

We just turned around and resumed our freak out. Brantley rolled his eyes and went to return the fire extinguisher from wherever he stole it from.

"When are we going to China?" Grace excitedly asked.

"Um it says here in a couple of weeks," I said, scanning the letter.

"WHAT! That's so not enough time, I gotta pack!" And with that she zoomed out of the dojo, faster than I've ever seen her run.

I looked after her, amused, as Kai sauntered up to me. "Well it looks like we're going to China," he said smugly.

"Who invited you?" I said pointedly.

"Nobody had to, I got my own invitation to the party."

"You made it?" I said incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm shocked sweetheart, you know that I'm better than you. So of course they're going to beg me to come," he smirked. I would almost give up my letter just to see that smirk wiped off his face, _almost._

"Don't call me sweetheart, Kai," I said sternly, before heading to the locker room. I was determined not to let Kai ruin my day.

"Whatever you say, cupcake," he laughed.

I abruptly stopped. That boy was making it really hard for me to ignore him. I spun on my heel and walked back to where Kai was laughing. I grabbed his wrist and pushed his pressure point, hard. He yelped in pain and tried to knock my hand off with his other hand, but I grabbed it and twisted it behind his back.

"You gonna call me that again, cupcake?" I sneered in his face.

"No," he managed to choke out. Satisfied, I released the pressure and headed back to the locker room. I couldn't stand that kid, but maybe he'll be put in his place during the tournament. Some of the world's best martial artists are going to be there and maybe teach him a lesson or two.

Suddenly the enormity of the contest hit me. The _world's best martial artists_ were going to be there. What chance would I have? I know I wasn't the best, and I didn't think I was even close. I sat down on the bench and put my head in my hands. Who did I think I was, going up against those masters? I'm just a girl from a small town.

I thought of what Jack would say to me in a situation like this. He would tell me to suck it up and go. I got chosen for a reason, and I'm going to go to China and prove that reason to the rest of the world. The more I thought about it, the more I convinced myself that, I can do this.

I shook my head and smiled to myself. Even though I haven't seen Jack in over two years, he still influences my decisions. That cannot be healthy, I should probably go see someone about that.

I hurriedly finished changing and returned to the training room. I was literally shaking with excitement as I jumped from foot to foot, trying to use up some of the excess energy.

"Either you have to use the bathroom, or you just drank four Monsters in a row," Riley said smirking as he walked through the door, hand in hand with his girlfriend, Amanda. He had finally gotten up the courage to ask her out, and to his surprise, she was just as in love with him as he was with her. They were a match made in a carnival side-show but they seemed happy.

"Bye hon," Amanda said as she gave him a quick peck on the cheek, "Go beat someone up for me."

Riley just stared after her, mesmerized, until I came up to him and gave him a flick on the side of his head.

"OW! What the heck was that for?" He grabbed his ear and started hopping around.

"You were swallowing her with your eyes! Leave some for the rest of us to see, 'hon'," I said smirking as I danced out of reach of his long arms.

"You just watch your back Kimmy. 'Cause one day, I will get even!" he paused dramatically before disappearing through the door of the locker room.

_Some things never change._

* * *

**Anybody catch my quote? I'll give ya a hint, its from a book! REVIEW! **

**PS.. ya'll wanna see my pig again? I know you do.. Okay.. Wait for it.. Annddd... :O**

**-Courtney(: **


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up the morning of the competition feeling great. We had arrived in China late last night and I had finally managed to sleep off the last of my jet lag, so I felt like I was ready to take on the world! Well not really but you know what I mean.

Grace, being the freaky person she is, had already been up for an hour. She was currently in the process of curling her hair when I finally rolled out of bed.

"What the heck are you doing that for?" I complained as I eyed her suspiciously.

"Well duhh! There are a lot of martial artists here and some have them have GOT to be cute," she said, not taking her eyes off the mirror.

I rolled my eyes and shuffled to the shower. I sucked in a breath as the first cold drops hit me, but it warmed up quickly enough. I hurriedly finished my shower and brushed my wet hair back with my fingers. I changed into my yellow and black karate gi and decided that I looked presentable.

I stepped out of the bathroom and turned around to face Grace, who was currently in the process of picking out her outfit.

She chose a white dress and a pink dress and turned around for me to see.

"Which one do you think-," she started to say before she got a good look at me.

"OH NO NO NO NO NO NO!" she yelled disapproving as I raised an eyebrow at her.

"There's absolutely no way that I'm letting my best friend look like that in front of all those cute guys!" she said already plugging her blow dryer and curling iron back in.

My eyes widened and I took a step back, I had seen Grace in a fashion craze before, and trust me, you don't want to be within 10 miles of one.

"Come on Grace! I look fine! I'm going to be fighting the whole time anyway," I said just about to head downstairs to grab a quick breakfast.

In a flash, she was ahead of me, locking the door. I breathed a sigh of exasperation as she dragged me toward her torture instruments.

Many burns and screams later, she turned me around to face the mirror. I gasped in shock and moved closer to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.

Grace had completely transformed me. I was looking at a girl with light, luminous, natural-looking makeup; ten times better than I could've done it. She had shiny blonde hair that cascaded down her shoulders in soft curls. All in all, that girl looked pretty dang good.

My best friend smirked in satisfaction as she started putting away her fashion instruments.

"Oh my gosh, Grace! How the heck did you manage to do that?"

"'Two things, honey. I have mad skills, and you're already gorgeous!" Grace said while changing into the pink dress.

I blushed slightly and said, "Come on, Grace. We both know it was like 99% your skills and maybe like .5% my looks."

Before she could reply I grabbed my duffel and said, "Well we better get down there! I'm not fighting on an empty stomach!"

Turns out, that just as I grabbed a muffin, Sensei called us to start loading into the bus that would take us to the Great Wall. Groaning, I crammed the rest of my muffin in my mouth as I shoved my bag into an empty seat and slumped down next to it.

Grace squeezed in next to me as the door closed and the bus jerked forward. The ride only took 10 minutes; I had absolutely no idea that we were so close to the Wall.

I've always wanted to see the Great Wall of China so I was practically bouncing in my seat with excitement.

"Is that nervous bouncing, or happy bouncing?" Grace asked, looking over at me.

I had to think about that one. "Yes," I stated simply, before resuming my bouncing.

All the other martial artists were in the same hotel as us, so there was another bus behind us, carrying the rest of them. Grace was busy scrutinizing the rest of the people in the bus, and I realized I was doing the same thing, but for totally different reasons.

I was scoping out the competition, seeing who looked like they knew what they were doing. There were a couple of people like us, just sitting casually and talking. But there were also a couple of people with ramrod straight postures with their eyes boring a hole in the seat in front of them. I could tell that those were the real masters here. I swallowed nervously as I noticed their concentration.

On the other hand, Grace, being the little airhead that she is, was checking out the other guys. She kept looking around, but her gaze kept landing on a Latino that was laughing with one of his friends.

"He's cute," I whispered.

She smiled but she didn't say anything. The brunet chose that moment to look over at us. Grace immediately blushed, but managed a smile that could be classified as nothing less than dazzling.

He grinned back and winked at her, before turning back to his friend.

"I knew my extra hour would pay off," she crowed triumphantly, tossing her hair.

I just looked at her.

"Oh don't worry! Some guy will be banging down your door, as soon as he gets a good look at you!" she said good-naturedly.

"Well I prefer my door closed. And locked. With one of those huge padlock thingies. And maybe a guard dog," I muttered, looking out my window.

She rolled her eyes and turned back to the guy.

* * *

Ten minutes later, we were standing on the Great Wall of China. All the pictures, videos, and satellite pictures in the world never could've prepared me for this moment.

I felt like I could see America from here. As far as I could see, there were green rolling hills, bursting with life. I could make out the town that we had parked our bus in. The air smelled fresh and clean, something you just don't get anymore.

I shook my head, if I started thinking about the environment and what people were doing to it, my head would explode.

All too soon, Sensei herded us into the structure that the matches would be held in.

There was a sparring mat set out in the middle with chairs and bleachers ringing it. There was also a judge's table, where three ancient people stood perfectly still. I could totally see Sensei up there, being all judge-y and professional.

A young Asian guy in a white karate gi showed us where to stow our bags for the day. And get this; we had our OWN locker room! Well we had to share with some other dojos, but still!

I locked my duffel in my designated locker and followed the stream of people to what I hoped was the warm-up room.

The room was huge, but with nothing in it, except for mats covering every inch of the floor. I headed to an open space with Grace. Kai had somehow appeared near us so I grudgedly gave up some mat room for him.

He winked at me and started some complicated routine, no doubt to show off. Some girls from another dojo pointed to him and giggled. He finished with a flourish and bowed in their direction.

I coughed, "Loser."

He turned and glared, but I was already stretching. He looked at Grace, and she just shrugged, trying not to laugh.

This was going to be an interesting day.

During my workout, I noticed two things. The first being that no one should EVER try doing the splits without stretching first. It's just bad, trust me. Second, I realized I was the only girl here.

Not literally, because they were plenty of girls from other dojos, but I was the only one actually fighting. The other girls were there supporting a _guy_ from their dojo. This just made me more determined, but I also knew that it would make me a target. I mean come on; I've seen enough TV to know how sexist people get.

I finally finished loosening my muscles and turned to Grace… to find her nowhere in sight.

I frowned and did a 360, trying to find her perky face in the sea of people. I finally caught sight of her, talking up that guy from the bus. Typical.

I decided to go over to them and grab Grace. And if I embarrassed her in the process, well that's bonus.

"Hey Grace! Isn't this the 'hottie' from the bus?" I teased mercilessly as I skipped up next to her.

She immediately turned a furious red and shot a look at me. If looks could kill, I would be choosing my coffin right now.

But the Latino didn't look uncomfortable, he just gave her an easy, reassuring smile. He turned to regard me and recognition flashed through his eyes.

"Hey! You're that girl who's competing right?" he said, giving me a once-over, not in a perverted way, just sizing me up as competition.

"That's me," I said cautiously, waiting for a sexist comment that was sure to come.

"Oh, cool. I'm Jerry."

He stuck his hand out, and I stared at it dumbfounded. Grace elbowed me in the ribs to knock me out of my stupor.

"Oh right! Sorry," I said quickly as I grasped his hand. "I'm Kim."

"Nice name, Kim."

I smiled, I kinda liked this guy. I winked at Grace and said, "Thanks, yours isn't too bad either."

"So, Jerry, are you competing?" I asked curiously.

"Nah, the swagmaster is too cool for this," he said, "But, my friend, on the other hand, is competing. We're all here for moral support, or something like that."

Just then, then same dude who showed us in called out the names of the first match.

"Okay guys! First up, Dylan Gillespie and Kimberly Crawford! Please make your way to the sparring room to commence your first match," the guy read from a piece of paper.

Grace gave my arm a quick squeeze and pushed me toward the door. Just ahead of me, a tall guy with blonde hair broke free of the crowd. He turned and regarded me, before grinning and heading back.

"And you must be the famous Kimberly Crawford," he smiled, as he fell in step beside me.

"And you're the guy I get to beat up?" I said good-naturedly.

"You can try."

We had reached the door by then, and headed into the hallway.

I was about to ask where the guy had went, when I heard someone call my name. I looked around for the source but no one around me seemed to be looking at me. I shrugged and blamed it on my three cans of Coca Cola.

"Over here!"

We turned and headed in the direction of the guy with the clipboard. He waited for us to catch up, before turning and leading us back to the sparring room.

"Hey guys! My name is Austin, and you'll probably be seeing a lot more of me, since I'm volunteering in this division this year," the guy said conversationally as he led us to the sparring room.

"Great, I'm Kim, and that's Dylan," I introduced both of us. He gave us a smile and pointed to a hallway.

"Just go down this hallway and the second door on your right."

"Alrighty then," Dylan said, sauntering down the hall.

"I'm sorry to break it to you, but you can't pull off the cool look," I said, raising an eyebrow.

"You're just jealous."

I raised my eyebrow and got onto the sparring mat. The smooth, cool surface of the mat felt familiar under my bare feet.

I closed my eyes and tried to calm my jumpy nerves. I knew that I was good, but Dylan seemed pretty dang good too. Just because he was nice to me off the mat, it didn't mean that he'd cut me a break on the mat.

I felt a comforting hand on my shoulder. I turned around, and came face-to-face with my brother.

I raised an eyebrow, "You actually got up to come to my match?"

"Oh come on! Give me some credit, I do care sometimes you know."

I managed a laugh, but it came out small and squeaky.

He put both of his hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye. "Look, I've seen you beat people up left and right, and these people don't look any different. You'll be just fine."

"Thanks, Luke," I muttered, feeling a little better. Luke didn't usually give out compliments unless he's trying to impress a girl. Or he actually means them.

He ruffled my hair and went back to sit next to my parents, who waved at me. I waved back and smiled, touched that my whole family was there to watch me. I breathed in and out, and readied myself.

Dylan was going down.

* * *

**Don't kill me! Jack and Kim are going to see each other again soon, I promise! This chapter already got _really_ long, and I had to cut it off somewhere..**

**To all the readers who caught the book reference, bravo! Not many people have heard of this book, but its called Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater! (btw the quote was in the last chapter) Give it a chance, I totally love it! I've read it like three times in a row(; **

**Oh and to the reviewer who asked about the quote, it was "You were swallowing her with your eyes! Leave some for the rest of us to see."**

**Reviews are like cookies! So gimme some cookies!**

**-Courtney(:**


	7. Chapter 7

When Dylan stepped on the mat, I was totally and utterly in the zone.

"Good luck, you're gonna need it," I said, grinning at him.

"Keep your luck for yourself, honey."

One of the judges with a _loooong_ beard stepped up and started to outline the rules of the match. He rang the gong, signaling the start of the match.

I bowed and struck a defensive stance. He did the same and regarded me. I blew some hair out of my eyes and launched myself at him.

He easily dodged my first blow, but I was expected that. I swept my foot around and knocked his feet off the floor. He landed on the mat, and I was just about to bring my foot down on him, but he rolled and got to his feet behind me.

He narrowed his eyes and proceeded to attack with more caution. He started to pound me with his fists, but I blocked and dodged his blows. I started to realized that this kid only had strength, he didn't have nearly as much agility as a smaller person like me would have. I decided to use this to my advantage.

I nimbly flipped out of the way of his spin kick and came up beside him. I quickly shot my foot out and kicked him in the gut. I jumped lightly out of the way when he turned around. I could see the sweat starting to bead on his forehead and knew that I had to end this soon.

He threw a kick that probably could've knocked a hole in the wall. I narrowly avoided a trip to the hospital by dropping down, pressing my chest and stomach to the floor. I used my arms to push my lower body up, delivering a crucial blow. He staggered backwards and fell down heavily… out of the boundaries.

The room was quiet, before suddenly erupting in cheers.

A huge smile spread across my face when I realized that I would be advancing to the next round. I threw my arms up in the air and jumped up and down, laughing.

"This round goes to Kimberly Crawford! Close the match, you two," the judge recited as he stepped onto the mat.

I turned to Dylan and bowed, watching him do the same.

"Better luck next time, pretty boy!" I smirked at him as I stepped off the sparring mat.

I looked around the throng of people, trying to locate the rest of my dojo. _Since when are so many people interested in karate?_ I wondered to myself as I ducked under somebody's waving arms.

I was in no means claustrophobic, but I reconsidered that assumption when I pushed through the crowd, trying to find my way back to the bleachers. I felt trapped and squished as people jolted me out of the way. I seriously needed to gain an inch… or two.

I finally broke through the mass of people into a clearing near the bleachers. My face was flushed and my hair was dangling annoyingly in front of my face. I roughly pushed it out of the way as I scanned the bleachers.

There!

I saw Grace animatedly talking to a vaguely familiar-looking boy with brown hair. Jeez, that girl was flirting with every boy here! I tried to catch a glimpse of his face, but he had his back to me. Sensei was standing near them, talking to one of the judges.

I made my way to them.

Grace caught sight of me as I came closer, and her eyes lit up. She directed the boy's attention toward me. I stopped in astonishment as soon as I got a glimpse at his _very_ familiar face.

My heart leaped as I gaped at him. "Jack?" I whispered.

He grinned, his classic smile that could bring light to the dark side of the moon, and held his arms out. Before I knew what I was doing, I was running full-tilt into him.

I crashed into him, my momentum knocking him back a couple of steps, but he didn't seem to care. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me so tightly that I could hardly breathe. I didn't care though; I was probably doing the same thing.

I buried my face into his neck and closed my eyes, hardly believing that he was here.

I pulled away as a hoard of questions flooded my mind.

"What are you doing here? Why didn't Sensei tell me? Are you competing? So you're doing karate again? Does Sensei even know?" I managed to get out before I ran out of air.

"Calm down, you're going to talk yourself out," Jack said, grinning.

"We all know that that can't possibly happen," Grace smirked.

"Oh, shut up!" I sighed, before smacking both of them.

I stepped back and took my first good look at my friend.

He had finally managed to make his hair lie down straight, after all of those years with his cactus hair. I smiled to myself as I remembered his old nickname, Cactus Brain, courtesy of moi. But now, it looked like all he did was brush his fingers through it. The look actually suited him.

He had also grown a couple of inches, and was still a head taller than me; something I found very annoying.

The only thing that hadn't changed at all were his eyes. They were the same open, caring eyes that he'd always had.

All in all… he looked… almost… hot.

Not that I would ever say it out loud. I would probably boil my head first.

I felt my cheeks heat up at my train of thought. I quickly shook my head to snap myself out of it.

"Okay Mister, spill it. Why are you here?" I said.

"What? Are you not just happy to see me?" he teased, with an eyebrow raised.

"Of course I'm happy to see you, you big dummy! Now just tell me what knocked some sense into you," I said, rapping his head with my knuckles. I was relieved to hear that there wasn't a hollow sound.

"I'll tell ya later, I have to compete in a couple minutes. This story is going to take way longer than that," he said, turning to check the board for the match times.

"Well then it better be good-" I started to say before I heard a crash behind me.

I yelped and jumped forward in a panic. I turned around in time to see a short man argue with a judge. A very old, priceless looking table was in shambles next to them. I could guess what their argument was about, and I tried not to laugh.

"Oh no," Jack muttered under his breath as he covered his eyes with his hand.

"Do you know him?" I murmured to him as the man walked toward us, having lost his argument.

"Um… He's Rudy, our… sensei," he winced as Rudy tripped over absolutely nothing.

I laughed and glanced at the clock. "I got to get back to the warm-up room, my next match is coming up soon. What room are you in?" I asked.

"Room 248, just meet me there after today's matches and we'll catch up," he said. I smiled and nodded, before turning around to leave.

For some reason that I still don't know, I decided to turn around. When I did, I caught sight of Kai head into the hallway, suspiciously looking over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being followed. Naturally, I had to follow him. I crept down the hallway and peeked into the room I saw him enter.

I couldn't hear anything over the clamor of the people in the hallway, but I could just make out Kai talking to a couple of guys. Kai passed something to one of them, and then they shook hands. Something about that simple gesture felt significant, final.

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I didn't notice Kai head to the door. I barely caught sight of him in time, so I couldn't do anything except flatten myself into the wall and hope he didn't see me.

He seemed in a hurry so he barely spared me a second glance before heading off toward the sparring room, no doubt late for his match. I blew out a sigh of relief and turned around.

Well I certainly would not be forgetting that anytime soon.

* * *

**For some reason, this chapter was really hard to write.. It took me FOREVER! Well, many editing days later, it has finally been deemed worthy for all you lovely people to read! Tell me what you think!(; Cough..Cough.. That means review.. Cough.**

**Oh and to the reviewer who asked if I was going to describe all of the fights, I will only be describing the ones important to the story. But, not all of them. I'm not that karate-esque (It's a word :P) enough to think up all those fights...**

**-Courtney(:**


	8. Chapter 8

Three matches and many bruises later, I finally made it to the semi-finals! I saw my name on the match board and my heart swelled with happiness. I turned to Grace and she gave me a big, genuine smile.

"See, girl? I told you that you'd make it! Oh look! They're putting up the other semi-finalist in your division," she said, turning back to the board.

I looked at the logo and was shocked to say the least. They had the same dojo logo as mine up there, except Kai Shapley was printed under it, in small neat letters. I would be fighting Kai in the semi-finals.

"Oh looky here, it looks like I'm fighting the princess in the semis. This'll be easier than I thought," I heard a smug voice behind me say. Without thinking, I brought my elbow back into Kai's stomach, hard.

I heard the sharp exhale of breath behind me, signaling that I had found my mark. I turned around and said, "We'll see 'bout that, Kai."

I turned on my heel and started toward the bus stop, pulling Grace along with me. As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, I realized that I hadn't even checked to see the other division's semi-finalists. Jack was in the other division, so I told Grace to wait for me at the bus stop.

She looked at me for a second, and then shrugged before going to the bus stop.

I turned around and entered the sparring room. Kai was still in there, checking out the match board. I was just about to push past him, but he moved before I got there. I looked in the direction he was heading and saw Jack.

Call me quirky, but I wanted to see how Jack would take meeting Kai again, so I hid behind the match board and peeked out from behind it.

"Saw your fights, Jack. I'm surprised to see you here," Kai sauntered over, his ever-present smirk still plastered on his face.

Jack looked shocked for a second, and I saw fear flash through his eyes for a brief moment. But it was quickly replaced by his characteristic confidence. "I thought I'd swing by and pick up a trophy or two."

Kai breathed out a small laugh, "That's funny, I thought I'd beat the karate outta you two years ago," he said forcefully.

Jack didn't seem fazed at all. "I'm a lot better fighter than I was two years ago," he stepped closer to intimidate Kai, but then recoiled, "And your breath is worse," he said.

Kai glared at him before spitting out, "Listen loser, this time when I take you down, you're not getting back up. And guess what? I'm fighting the blonde in the semi-finals tomorrow, and what I do to her will be nothing close to what I'm going to do to you!" Kai walked away, probably thinking that he'd scared the poop out of Jack. I knew that wasn't true though, I prayed to God that it wasn't true.

Jack sat down on the bench; his shoulders slumped as if all the fight left him. I recognized the despaired look on his face, it was the same look he had after the match that changed his life, forever.

I just couldn't stand to see him like that, so I chose that moment to reveal my location.

"Come on, Jack. Don't let Kai get to you," I said, stepping out of my hiding place.

He jumped up, his eyes wide. Jack's hand flew up to his heart. "Geez Kim! How long have you been there?"

I smirked at his expression, it was priceless. Oh, if only I had a camera to document it.

"I pretty much heard everything," I said, leaning against the match board and crossing my arms.

"Seriously Kim, you gave me a heart attack! And I mean literally, my heart just about stopped," he gasped.

"I know, I seem to have that effect on boys. Since I'm so drop-dead gorgeous and all," I laughed.

Jack laughed along with me for a couple of seconds, before immediately sobering up again. The smile slipped off my face as I realized that he was seriously afraid of fighting Kai again. I rested my hand on his shoulder, and hoped it gave him a little comfort.

"You'll do just fine, Jack. Don't let Kai take you away. Not again," I whispered softly, my voice breaking at the end. I cleared my throat and backed away, I was such a baby.

"It's not just me, Kim. If you were here and you heard it everything he said, then you heard what he was going to do to you. It's all my fault, just because he hates me so much, he's going to take it out on you," Jack said, sitting down and dropping his head into his hands.

I was shocked speechless for a moment. All of the things that he should worry about, but he worries about me. My heart did this weird fluttery thing in my chest. I probably wasn't over the jet lag.

Truth be told, I totally forget how he indirectly threatened me. Not that I gave it much thought in the first place. I was absolutely not scared of Kai. Spiders, yes. But not Kai.

I went up next to him and kneeled down. I rested my hand on his knee and kept it there. I took a deep breath before I looked up at his face. I was actually pretty close to slapping some sense into him and telling him that life sucks, but I tried the more diplomatic approach.

"I can take care of myself, Jack. I don't need anyone looking out for me, and Kai is just a glorified hyena. I can take him," I said, gently.

Jack lifted his head and looked at me incredulously, as if I had just dropped from the moon.

"I know perfectly well that you can hold your own in a fight. But, do you seriously expect Kai to fight fair? After all of those years, do you really expect him to fight fair?" Jack questioned, getting up in the process.

Now, that was one thought that had not occurred to me. But, I shrugged anyway, acting completely unconcerned. I got to my feet. "Okay, enough of this depressing stuff. You do what you have to do, but I will seriously track you down and kick your butt if you repeat last time, you got me mister?" I said, stepping forward and prodding his chest with my finger.

Jack cracked a smile at that and nodded.

"Good," I said, satisfied, "Now, you still have to tell me about your life the past two years. Let's go back to the hotel; Grace's still waiting for me at the bus stop."

* * *

**Helloo! This chapter was actually really fun to write, although the feelings that I wanted to portray were kinda hard. I hope I did okay! Leave me a review to let me know! **

**-Courtney(:**


	9. Chapter 9

I stepped out of my long, refreshing shower and luxuriously stretched, feeling great. I threw on pajama pants and a t-shirt before stepping in front of the mirror. I tossed my hair up in a messy ponytail, so naturally pieces of hair escaped.

I looked across the room, expecting to see Grace in her pajamas, but was surprised to see her fully dressed.

"What are you doing?" I said as I looked her up and down, with an eyebrow raised.

"Jerry asked me out! Isn't this great?" she squealed.

"And you only told me now? What kind of best friend are you?" I screamed as I jumped up and down with her excitedly. Her enthusiasm is often contagious.

Completely ignoring my inquiry, she proceeded to explain where they were going. They weren't doing anything too special, just going to eat in one of the restaurants in the hotel.

She posed in front of me, twirling around and modeling her outfit for me. "Well, how do I look?"

"Completely kiss-worthy! If you're lucky," I said suggestively.

She grinned and pulled me off the bed. "You're going to Jack's room, right? I'll walk with you to the elevator."

I followed her out the door and through the hall, toward the elevator. We laughed and joked the whole way, it felt good to unwind and relax with my best friend. We both got on the elevator and I got off on the 2nd floor.

"Have fun!" I said to her as the elevator doors closed.

I continued down the hallway as I tried to find room 248.

230, 231, 232. I still had a ways to go.

I heard noises behind me and I realized that I was being followed. A couple of guys that I had fought, and beaten, were trailing behind me. Like an idiot, I slowed down, trying to figure out what they were doing. That gave them time to catch up to me.

One of them pushed me into a wall and sneered in my face, "Looks like we found her."

My heart was beating so loudly that I was positive they heard it. My hands were hanging limply at my sides, and I clenched them to keep them from shaking. I could take either of them, no problem. But there were two of them. And they were both black belts. I think I have the right to be a little scared.

I cleared my throat and asked as calmly as I could, "What do you want?"

The sharp edges of the wall started to dig into my spine, and I shifted uncomfortably.

"What we want is to know how a girl like you could beat us. I didn't even think girls were allowed to do martial arts. There aren't any at my dojo," he said rudely. He turned to laugh with his friend, acting like this whole thing was a joke. Acting like _I_ was a joke.

Rage boiled through me, replacing my apprehension. These were just more guys who didn't think a girl belonged here. I stepped forward, breaking the iron grip that the guy had on my arm in the process.

"So that's what this is about? You guys are too much like babies to accept that a _girl_ beat the snot outta you? Well, I got news for you mister-" I was just getting warmed up when a certain somebody interrupted my rant.

"What's going on here?" Jack said, with his arms crossed. It took me exactly two seconds to detect the glint of cold anger in his eyes. He could look downright intimidating when he wanted to.

The guys turned around and sized him up. They seemed to realize that he was a black belt semi-finalist and started to back off. I bet they didn't think they could take two very mad martial arts experts. They scampered down the hallway with their tails in between their legs. Wimps.

Now that the jerks were gone, the burst of maniac energy I had somehow found drained out of me, leaving me with the usual fatigue of a long day. I leaned back against the wall and took a couple of deep breaths to calm my surging heartbeat. I'll never admit it, but I was actually scared for a moment there. My sweaty palms and beating heart were proof of my fear.

As soon as they were out of sight, Jack came up to me and grabbed my arm. He inspected the marks on it, from where the guy had dug his nails in. "You'll live," he decided after his medical exam.

I snatched my arm back, "I could've told you that, dummy," I said, "Let's just go to your room."

We headed down the hallway toward room 248. "How long have they been bothering you?" Jack questioned. His over-protective nature started to break through. This wouldn't be the first time he played all big brother on me.

"First time I've seen them since the matches," I explained, "They're just a couple sexist guys who don't think a girl should fight."

"Well, they obviously haven't met you yet, I learned that the hard way," he grinned as he held the door open for me.

"Well, that's the first smart thing you've said all day," I teased as I plopped down on one of the beds. It was neatly made, and smelled like Jack.

I looked at the messy pile of sheets on the other bed and raised an eyebrow at Jack.

"That's my roommate's bed, you'll meet him soon enough. He's getting ready for a date-" Jack was interrupted when a familiar Latino burst into the room from the connecting door.

Jerry was dressed in only a tank top, holding two shirts up.

"Which one, man? I am freaking out! She's so pretty, and nice, and hey Kim-," he stopped and took a double take.

"Kim? What are you doing here? See! I told you that she's real," Jerry said, looking pointedly at Jack.

Meanwhile, Jack just stood there, looking overwhelmed. "Wait, you two know each other? And definitely the blue one, dude," Jack said, gesturing to one of the outfits.

"WHOOO!" Jerry yelled as he danced out of the room, pulling his shirt on in the process.

"So, anything I'm missing here?" Jack said, plopping down on the couch.

"Oh you mean how I know Jerry? Grace's going out with him today, dummy!"

"It's Grace?" Jack asked, looking genuinely surprised, "I did not see that coming."

"Come on! They're adorable together!" I smiled as I folded my legs beneath me.

Before he could reply, the connecting door banged open. I jumped, startled, and was surprised to find that the bed was no longer under me. I fell to the floor with a loud thump. My breath whooshed out of me as I lay winded on the hotel carpet.

A mob of people stormed in. In actuality, it was only two people, but they made enough noise that my first thought was that I needed to duck and cover.

I sat up and looked at them over the bed. Both of them were dressed in bizarre costumes that resembled something I'd seen in a recent horror movie. They yelled something about cookies and took off, closing the door with a bang behind them. I stared after them, completely dumbfounded. I've literally been in this room for like forty-two seconds and its already more interesting than the room Grace and I shared.

"And now you've met the rest of the gang," Jack laughed at my expression.

"Well at least I know that you haven't been bored without me," I said.

Jack came around the bed and held out his hand, to help me up. I grasped it and pulled myself up, feeling the strength in his arm. He pulled with more force than I had anticipated, so I ended up stumbling forward. I ran right into him, but he easily steadied me by grabbing my waist. My other hand was curled into a loosely formed fist and was resting lightly on his chest. I looked up at him, an apology ready on my lips, but I faltered when I saw the uncharacteristic intensity in his brown eyes. I immediately froze, my breathing quickening before it all together stopped.

Suddenly, I backed away, breaking his grip on me. Clearing my throat, I tried, unsuccessfully, to hide the blush that was creeping up on my face. Jack didn't look any better off.

"Let's go sit down," I said, quietly. He nodded and moved back toward the couch.

I was still unsteady from being so close to him. I could still feel his body pressed up against me, warmth searing through my clothing. What was wrong with me? He was… is my friend. I blamed my tangled feelings on my fatigue. There was no possible way that Jack was anything but a friend. It was just not comprehendible.

But, by the time we had sat down and started talking, the awkwardness of that particular moment was long gone, buried underneath the comfortable familiarity between two close friends.

He explained how he had been manipulated into joining the Bobby Wasabi Dojo, and how he had stayed and helped them keep their dojo. I tried not to let my feelings of jealousy and pain taint the conversation. He had fit in so well, apparently even rejoining karate in the process. Meanwhile, it had taken me weeks to get over his departure.

On the other hand, it did make me smile when I saw how his face lit up when he talked about his home in Seaford. I knew that karate was a source of happiness in both of our lives, so when I heard how he rejoined it, my heart swelled to the point of bursting.

After we had shared our stories, Jack suggested that we should watch a movie. I got up to choose from the selection that his roommate had brought. Surprise, surprise! It was made up of only Disney movies.

I chose Ratatouille and popped it into the DVD player that the hotel thoughtfully provided for us. I went back to the couch and sat down, stretching my legs. I swung them onto the couch and put them in Jack's lap.

"Really?" Jack complained, gesturing to where my legs comfortably rested.

I smirked at him and hit play. He threw his arms up in the universal I-give-up gesture and dropped them on my legs. His touch sent shivers up my body, but I tried to ignore it. Stupid teenage hormones.

I rested my head against the armrest and tried to concentrate on the movie, but my eyelids kept drooping. The fatigue and stress of the day did not help at all. Inevitably, my eyes soon closed and stayed closed.

* * *

I looked at her sleeping form. Her arms were tucked against her side and her cheek was pressed against the armrest. I don't know what was wrong with me, she was just a friend. A very good friend, but a friend nevertheless.

I flashed back to the first time I saw her after two years. Her hair had tumbled down her back in shiny waves, even if it was slightly mussed from her time on the mat. Kim's cheeks were flushed and she was breathing heavily but I was still stunned by her natural beauty.

A lock of hair had escaped from her loose up-do and lay across her face, moving every time she breathed. Impulsively, I reached forward and brushed it back. She stirred and I drew back as if I had been shocked. I really didn't know what I was thinking.

My thoughts were interrupted by a light knock on the door. I gently lifted Kim's legs off of me and got up. I opened the door to find Jerry and Grace waiting.

"Hey Jack! I was just wondering if Kim was still here, she wasn't in the room," Grace questioned, peering around me.

I turned so she could see Kim sleeping on the couch. "She's still here. We were watching a movie and she fell asleep a while ago."

Grace nodded and smiled, turning back to Jerry. I turned away, as they shared a quick hug, and then Jerry came into the room.

Grace turned to me and asked, "Do you mind bringing her to our room? I don't really want to wake her since she has her semi-finals tomorrow."

"No problem," I answered as I opened the door wider to let her in.

I made my way back to the couch and gently slipped my arms under her knees and back, lifting her up. She was surprisingly light and warm against me. She murmured something unintelligible, and snuggled closer to my chest, clutching my shirt with one of her hands. A small smile played across my lips at her action.

Grace held the door open for me as I followed her out into the hallway.

"We didn't leave you guys all alone too long did we?" Grace asked conversationally as we headed to the elevator.

"Nah, we had an awesome time watching the movie, although she fell asleep almost immediately. She's always had that problem," I laughed as I remembered our 'all-night' movie marathons. They usually ended up with me watching and her snoring. That girl could sleep for a week, straight.

"Anyway, what's up with you and Jerry? I heard ya'll were getting along pretty well," I smirked as she turned a delicate pink.

"Yeah, I guess. We met in the warm-up room, like right before Kim's first match, and the rest is history," she sighed, looking happier than I've ever seen her.

I was happy for her, but the mention of Kim's match reminded me of the loosely veiled threat to her in the semi-finals.

"Did she tell you about what Kai said?" I asked Grace.

"She mentioned something, but she didn't seem concerned."

I furrowed my brow in concentration. Typical Kim. Thinking that she could take on the world, but someone had to remind her that she wasn't completely invincible.

We had reached the door to Kim's and Grace's room. Their room was exactly like ours, with two twin beds and a TV. The only difference was the lack of a couch.

Grace gestured toward one of the beds and headed into the restroom. I made my way to the bed, and laid Kim down beneath the covers. I was pulling them back over her, when she stirred and opened her eyes.

"Hey sleepyhead," I whispered, grinning at her disoriented expression.

She blinked at me, and decided that it was too much work to stay awake. She turned on her side and burrowed into the bed sheets, slipping her eyes shut.

That just made my smile wider. I chuckled and tucked her in, then turned to leave.

* * *

**So, what'd ya think? I don't know if this chapter turned out quite right, but I wanted to get it out as quickly as possible for all you lovely people!(: So excuse my rushed ending. I won't bore you with a long A/N, so I'll leave you with my final words... REVIEW! :D**

**-Courtney(:**


	10. Chapter 10

"GET YOUR BUTT UP KIMBERLY!"

I groaned and rolled over, pushing my face into my pillow. I tried my hardest not to wake up; I was so comfortable.

"Kim, don't make me come over there," Grace yelled. I poked my head up and heard her voice filter from the open bathroom door.

"What time is it?" I moaned, burying my face back into my pillow.

Before she could reply, the door banged open. Grateful for the distraction, I closed my tired eyes, trying not to lose the warm sleepy feeling… Until, the new person came to my bed and pulled the comforter off of me.

I pulled my head off the pillow and glared at the newcomer. I blinked and Jack's smirking face came into focus.

"Jack, go away," I muttered, my voice muffled by the blanket that I just pulled back over me. These people really did NOT know how to wake a girl up!

"Not happenin' Crawford. Your match is in like an hour and you're still in bed," he said, pulling the blanket back off of me and tossing it onto Grace's bed. I ignored him and clutched my pillow to my face.

Suddenly, I felt one of his warm hands grab my ankle. Jack pulled slightly, making me fly halfway off the bed. I screamed in surprise and annoyance, and kicked out, hoping to hit him. But, he easily dodged and twisted my ankle, effectively flipping me on my back.

I glared up at him. He laughed and dropped my ankle. Jack held both of his hands out, ready to help me up. I reluctantly grabbed them and let him pull me out of my bed. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me around, shoving me toward the bathroom.

"Got her up for ya Grace."

"You're the bane of my existence, you know that right?" I muttered, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

I felt him lean forward behind me. His warm breath brushed my ear as he whispered, "But, you love me anyway."

I closed my eyes and suppressed a shiver. I was cold… yep, that's it, it's cold.

I didn't get a chance to reply before Grace got a hold of me. She passed me through the bathroom and shoved me in the shower, tossing a towel in my face. I sighed and turned the water on.

* * *

After a whirlwind of makeup and clothes, we ended up in the lobby. Grace, looking fabulous as always, and me, looking pretty normal. Today, I had managed to get out of the room before she could do too much to me. I had a match today, and the last thing I wanted is to be fumbling with my hair.

We got to the Great Wall exactly ten minutes before my match was scheduled to start, so I hurriedly warmed up in the sparring room while watching Jack's match. He easily beat his opponent, and advanced to the finals.

Jack closed the match and jogged off, toward me and Grace.

"Looks like you're going to the finals!" I said, grinning. "That's too bad, cause you know I'm only going to beat you after I deal with Shapley over there." I jerked my thumb to where Kai was warming up, surrounded by people that I've never seen before.

"You can try," Jack said, but he looked distracted. He glanced to where Kai was and then back at me, with a strange expression on his face.

"Kai Shapley and Kimberly Crawford, please make your way to the sparring mat." The intercom crackled to life with the voice of one of the judges.

I didn't move. I looked at Jack, expecting some last-minute tips about my form. He opened his mouth, _here it comes._

"Be careful around Kai, okay?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off.

"No, I mean it. Promise me that you'll be careful," Jack said, with the intense look in his eyes again. I nodded, suddenly speechless.

Finding my voice, I asked, "So, no tips about my defense?"

"Keep your arms a little more spread out, you can cover more ground that way," Jack grinning, picking up my loosely-veiled reference to my other matches.

I rolled my eyes and stepped onto the mat. I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing, finding the calmness that I usually had during a fight. I felt the mat shift lightly under my bare feet, and heard Kai's loud voice boasting to his new friends. I opened my eyes and found that he was on the mat and ready to go. I gave him one of my most horrible smiles and bowed, officially starting the match.

He came at me like a whirlwind. I dodged his first kick and flipped over his second one, landing adjacent to him. I quickly shot my hand out and grabbed his arm, aiming to flip him. But, before I could, he shot his other hand out and pulled my hair, yanking it out of its ponytail. I stumbled backward, momentarily blinded by the sudden curtain of blonde in my eyes. By the time I pushed it away, I saw Kai swing out a roundhouse kick and nail me right in the side.

I fell to the floor, gasping in pain and shock. He looked down at me in contempt before bringing his foot down, right toward my unprotected stomach. I barely rolled away in time, and I heard the loud sound his foot made as it connected with the mat. I scrambled up and kicked, hitting him in the chest. He backed away, and I didn't let him get anymore blows in. Sensei has always said that I've been pretty good at offense, so I used that to my advantage. I launched a series of blows at him, and for a moment, it looked like I would win.

Until he shifted his weight backwards, and moved the whole mat back a couple feet. The sudden movement took me by surprise and I staggered, trying to regain my footing. Kai used the distraction to his advantage and grabbed my arm, flipping me onto the mat. I landed hard, and the breath whooshed out of me, but I didn't stop fighting. Technically, the match wasn't over until I stayed down for more than five seconds.

Suddenly, I felt Kai tug my arm up straight and brace his foot on the back of my shoulder. I felt him sharply tug while keeping the pressure on my arm. And then after that, all I felt was the white hot pain shooting down my arm. I heard someone scream, and with a start I realized that it was me. I felt the pressure on my arm slacken, and my hand slumped limply to the ground.

I pulled it to my stomach and cradled it with my other one, not making any attempt to get up. All I could think about was the pain burning my shoulder. Every time I moved even an inch, another wave of agony shot through me. In my delirious state, I vaguely heard a familiar voice yelling and arguing with someone. I wanted to scream at them to stop, but I couldn't even shift to lift my face off the mat.

I felt a light, cool touch on my arm. I blinked my eyes open to find Grace kneeling in front of me, her usually happy eyes full of concern. I managed a weak smile and tried to get up. I couldn't lie here like an invalid forever.

"Oh no you don't," she said, trying to push me back down. She turned around and I followed her gaze to Jack, who was currently arguing with the official and trying to get at Kai. I could see the fury in his gestures.

"Jack! She's trying to get up," Grace called. I shot her a dirty look, and shrugged her hand away. I got to my knees, and then my feet, still keeping my arm tightly against me. It hung there limply and wouldn't move when I tried to wiggle my fingers. A cold ball of fear settled in my throat.

When I finally got to my feet, a wave of nausea threatened to send me back to the mat. I staggered and then I felt a gentle hand steady me. It curled around my waist and helped me to a bench. I looked to the side, and saw Jack. His normally carefree, kind brown eyes were full of murderous rage. His face was contorted into an angry scowl. He wouldn't meet my gaze.

He sat me down gently and took a place next to me. I could see the judges conversing in a corner, and Kai looking smug, standing and talking to his friends. He saw me watching and winked. I glared at him, imagining a slow death for him in a snake pit.

The judges finally finished, and one of them stepped to the gong. He rang it, signaling for silence. The deep, loud sound reverberated around the room until it was quiet.

"We have the results," he started. _This is it, _I thought_, Kai's finally going to get what he deserves_.

"Kai Shapley will move onto the finals."

Immediately, words of protest were heard throughout the room. But, I just sat there, slightly shocked, but deep down, I knew that Kai would somehow get away with this. I could only hope that Jack put him in his place in the finals.

Jack's warm hand came to rest on my leg.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine," I shifted, and another dagger of pain shot through my arm. I winced, and then immediately tried to hide it. But, with my luck, he saw my brief expression of pain. He patted my leg reassuringly and got up. Where was he going?

But, I wasn't alone for long. I felt the old bench squeak as Grace sat down beside me.

"The doctor's on his way. Geez, your arm looks bad," she said, making a face. I purposefully had kept my eyes away from my poor shoulder; I didn't want to pass out in the middle of all this. But, I finally couldn't take it anymore, and I turned my head.

My arm was hanging at an unnatural angle from my shoulder, and every movement made me wish I had never got out of my bed in the morning. I couldn't see my skin because my gi covered it, but at this moment, I was glad. I was already feeling a little woozy.

Suddenly, the crowd cleared and a couple men in white pushed through. One of them immediately headed toward me, and the other headed to my parents, who were hovering anxiously behind me.

"Hi Kim, I am Dr. Henson, and I'm going to look at your arm," he said in a kind voice. I obediently nodded and turned so he could have a clear view of my arm.

Grace got up and looked around. Spotting what she was looking for she opened her mouth to speak.

"Jack! The doctor's here!"

I followed her gaze to find Jack. He was at the far end of the room with someone else. One of his hands gripped the front of the other guy's gi and was pushing him up against the wall. I saw a flash of yellow and black and recognized Kai.

What the heck was he doing? He will get disqualified if the judges see him! I struggled against the doctor and tried to warn Jack, but Dr. Henson's firm grip on my arm almost made me pass out.

But, it turns out my warning wasn't needed, because as soon as he heard Grace, he dropped Kai and rushed back over to the bench. Jack sat down on the other side of me and gave me a reassuring smile, but I still saw the traces of anguish and rage on his face.

By now, Dr. Henson had finished his examination of my wounded arm. "Well, it's a clean injury, and will be fairly simple to correct. Your arm is completely out of its socket, Kim. It's a dislocation, but to an extreme extent. I'm going to have to maneuver you arm back in its place, and pop it back in. I'm afraid that it will be pretty painful."

I gritted my teeth and nodded. "Okay, just get it over with."

I screwed my eyes shut and held my breath as he gently, but firmly grasped my arm and started moving it. Lightning strikes of pain wracked my body, but I kept as still as possible. I felt Jack gently unclench my other hand from its tightly formed fist. He slipped his own hand into mine. I didn't want to hurt him, but my hand gripped his of its own accord. I couldn't open my eyes to see if it turned purple or not.

Meanwhile, Dr. Henson had finished moving my arm. "Okay Kim, on the count of three, I'm going to pop it back into the socket."

I was too out of it to respond.

"One."

Suddenly, I felt my arm wrench and a final burst of pain shot through me. I cried out, even though I didn't even whimper through the rest of it. But, then I didn't feel anything else. The pain had disappeared.

I cracked open my eyes to see that my arm was back in its socket. I turned my gaze on the doctor.

"You said three!" I cried.

"It's fixed isn't it? It's a psychology thing; patients tend to tense up right before the correction. So, by corrected your injury before you realized it, I just prevented a major risk factor," Dr. Henson said casually. He took my hand and moved my joints to make sure they worked.

"Um, okay," I said intelligently, trying to hide the fact that I only understood half of what he said.

"I think you're going to be just fine, Kim. You just need to wear a sling for at least two weeks, and do some daily exercises that my assistant will show you," the doc said.

"I can still practice karate, right?" I asked hopefully. I would die inside if he said no.

"I would rather you did not. The shoulder still hasn't set properly, so it could easily pop out with a slight provocation."

I internally groaned, if my parents heard that, they would strap me in a strait jacket and lock me in a padded room so I wouldn't practice.

Dr. Henson said his goodbyes and left. I became aware that I was still holding Jack's hand. And that he was sitting awfully close to me, I couldn't see any of the bench between us. I hurriedly untangled my fingers from his and scooted away. After a couple inches of space were put between us, I could breathe normally. For some reason, my breathing had quickened so I was practically hyperventilating.

"Looks like you won't be fighting for a while, huh?" he asked.

"I guess," I said, unenthusiastically.

"Chin up. You'll be back to knocking guys out in no time," he said grinning. I couldn't help but smile.

"There's that pretty smile," Jack laughed.

I felt a slight blush tinge my cheeks, but I brushed his comment off. He was just joking after all. I was saved from having to reply when Dr. Henson's assistant returned, with my arm sling.

He took my arm and put it into the pocket of the sling. He slipped the strap over my neck, to hold my arm up. He explained the stretches to me and said his goodbyes.

Jack got up and helped me up. I shook off his arm, I wasn't an invalid.

"Cut it out Jack! I'm not dead you know! My arm's just in a sling," I said, slightly annoyed.

He raised both his arms in surrender. "Blame a guy for trying to help, why don't you."

I bumped his shoulder with my good one. "You know I love you."

"That is a matter of opinion," he muttered, but he shot me a crooked smile nonetheless.

* * *

**Ugh I know, I know. This ending is beyond sucky, probably the worst thing I've ever written! But I just had to get it out for you guys! I got so many reviews for the last chapter that its not even funny! I LOVE YOU GUYS(:**

**And before you ask, I will not follow the Kickin' IT in China original plot. Or maybe I will, you never know(; There will probably be about two or three more chapters in this story, depending on if I want to stretch it out..**

**If we top the last chapter in reviews, I will seriously plotz! ;D**

**-Courtney(:**


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